Community Policing

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the development of community policing in North Wales.

Peter Hain: This Government have invested huge sums in extra policing and community safety, and has delivered large numbers of extra police officers. As a result of our policies, crime has fallen.
	We are committed to ensuring that every community will have a Neighbourhood Policing team by April 2008.
	North Wales police is on track to meet this target.

Gambling: Licensing

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations his Department has received from  (a) the gaming industry and  (b) local authorities on the deadline for premises license applications in order to secure continuation rights.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Industry representatives have raised this issue informally with the Department. Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) supports the existing timetable and we have received no such representation from local authorities.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the value of land at the Olympic site which will be available for resale after hosting the Olympic games in 2012 at current prices.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 2 July 2007
	I have been asked to reply 
	as Minster for the Olympics.
	I refer the hon. Member to my written statement to the House on 27 March 2007, and the revised memorandum of understanding which has now been agreed with the Mayor. Copies of the memorandum have been deposited in the Library of the House. This shows details of the amounts we expect to be recovered, from the sale of land acquired by the London Development Agency for the purposes of delivering the Olympic and Paralympic games, and how these funds will be allocated.

Saudi Arabia: BAE Systems

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations were received by her Department about the Al Yamamah military contract in the three months prior to the announcement that the Serious Fraud Office would end its investigation into the contract.

Kim Howells: In the three months prior to the decision by the Director of the Serious Fraud Office to halt its investigation into BAE Systems, we continued to have talks with Saudi government officials on many subjects including the Al-Yamamah programme.
	Primary responsibility for supporting the export of UK defence equipment and services lies with the Ministry of Defence.

Sudan: Oil

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government intend to work with their counterparts in the UN to introduce a Darfur Oil Trust Fund.

Meg Munn: We welcome the proposal from the Aegis Trust for an oil trust fund. This could be an option for consideration in the future to put further pressure on the Government of Sudan to meet its commitments on Darfur. As with other measures, we need to carefully consider its impact on the economy and poverty reduction in the whole of Sudan, and on the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), agreed between North and South Sudan in 2005. Oil revenues are key to delivering the CPA's peace dividend across Sudan. The UK's policy remains focused on smart and targeted multilateral sanctions.

Sudan: Peace Keeping Operations

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide details of the proposed mandate for the African Union/United Nations deployment to Darfur.

Meg Munn: The proposed mandate of the joint African Union (AU)—UN peacekeeping force for Darfur is contained in the report produced by the AU and UN and presented to the Government of Sudan in Addis Ababa on 12 June. Copies of the report are available in the Library of the House. The Peace and Security Council of the AU endorsed this proposed mandate on 22 June. We are preparing a UN Security Council Resolution, with other Security Council members, that will mandate the UN elements of the force.

Uganda: Politics and Government

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on incursion into the Ugandan High Court by security forces to re-arrest suspects previously given bail; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The violence used by the government forces at the Uganda High Court on 1 March to frustrate the decision of the High Court to grant the People's Redemption Army (PRA) suspects bail has grave implications for the independence of the judiciary, respect for the rule of law and human rights in Uganda.
	We continue to raise our concerns about the detention of the PRA suspects with the Government of Uganda. Most recently our High Commissioner in Kampala raised this with President Museveni on 10 May.
	We understand that court proceedings are due to resume later this month. We will continue to make further representations to the Government of Uganda calling for court proceedings to be expedited in a fair and just manner.

Railways: South Wales

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evaluation her Department has made of the  (a) punctuality and  (b) reliability of trains operated by Great Western between London and South Wales.

Tom Harris: Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and First Great Western to address performance issues. Additionally, FIRST Great Western has implemented a 40-point Recovery plan. These are monitored monthly.
	In the year to 31 March 2007 First Great Western achieved an average punctuality of 83.2 per cent. across the franchise as a whole.

Railways: South Wales

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of the standard of Great Western's train services between London and South Wales.

Tom Harris: The Secretary of State for Transport has not undertaken an assessment of the standard of First Great Western's train services. The industry-standard public performance measure (PPM) is used to measure performance of a train operating company (TOC) across the whole of its franchise area, not specific routes in isolation. Passenger surveys are undertaken by Passenger Focus. The results of the latest National Passenger survey were published on 5 June 2007.

Shipping: EC Action

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with her opposite numbers in other EU states about the EU's consultation paper Towards a future maritime policy for the Union.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The former Minister of State, the hon. Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) recently held a meeting with the Portuguese State Secretary for Defence and Maritime Affairs to discuss this EU consultation and the plans of the Portuguese presidency in addressing its outcome.
	In addition, officials have worked closely with those of other EU member states on this matter and have been involved in both formal community working groups and an informal 'friends of the presidency' group.

Crime: Northumbria

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded level of crime was in  (a) Houghton and Washington East constituency and  (b) Northumbria police authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: Information for the Houghton and Washington East constituency is not available centrally. The available information relates to the Sunderland Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area and the Northumbria police force area and is given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: total offences recorded by the police—1996 and 1997 
			   Sunderland CDRP  Northumbria police force area 
			 1996 n/a 169,656 
			 1997 n/a 140,166 
			 n/a = not available. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: total offences recorded by the police—1998-99 to 2001-02 
			   Sunderland CDRP  Northumbria police force area 
			 1998-99 n/a 151,298 
			 1999-2000 n/a 142,279 
			 2000-01 30,407 134,777 
			 2001-02 33,259 139,130 
			 n/a = not available.  Notes: 1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998-99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1996 and 1997. 2. The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: total offences recorded by the police—2002-03 to 2005-06 
			   Sunderland CDRP  Northumbria police force area 
			 2002-03 38,196 165,496 
			 2003-04 34,612 157,051 
			 2004-05 30,447 142,122 
			 2005-06 28,429 131,968 
			  Note: The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

Racially Aggravated Offences: Wiltshire

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what type of offences with racial motivation were recorded by Wiltshire Constabulary which  (a) were taken to court and  (b) resulted in convictions in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06.

Vernon Coaker: The statistics are not available in the form requested.
	Recorded crime statistics relate to offences and court proceedings data relates to offenders. In addition, recorded crime data are published on a financial year basis and court proceedings data are published on a calendar year basis. For these reasons, the two data sources are therefore not directly comparable.
	The available information relates to racially or religiously aggravated offences and is available from 1999-2000 only. Tables 1 and 2 give the number of offences recorded by the police in Wiltshire. Data on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for all racially and religiously aggravated offences in the Wiltshire police force area are provided in Table 3.
	
		
			  Table 1:  Recorded racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police in Wiltshire, 1999-2000 to 2001-02 
			  Offence  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02 
			  Racially or religiously aggravated offences of:
			 Less serious wounding 10 16 24 
			 Harassment 36 65 67 
			 Common assault 16 14 10 
			 Criminal damage to a dwelling 2 3 9 
			 Criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling 1 9 20 
			 Criminal damage to a vehicle 8 8 15 
			 Other criminal damage 4 3 4 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Recorded racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police in Wiltshire, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			  Offence  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  Racially or religiously aggravated offences of: 
			 Less serious wounding 22 35 37 37 
			 Harassment 140 147 138 167 
			 Common assault 17 26 13 13 
			 Criminal damage to a dwelling 14 11 7 9 
			 Criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling 20 14 6 17 
			 Criminal damage to a vehicle 12 5 13 8 
			 Other criminal damage 7 6 6 9 
			  Note: 1. The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for racially and religiously aggravated offences, Wiltshire police force area, 1999 to 2005( 1, 2) 
			   Proceeded against 
			   1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  Racially or religiously aggravated offences of:
			 Less serious wounding 1 1 1 1 2 5 3 
			 Harassment 17 16 16 15 26 27 49 
			 Common assault 1 2 3 8 14 9 10 
			 Criminal damage to a dwelling — — — — — — — 
			 Criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling — — — — — — — 
			 Criminal damage to a vehicle — — — — — — — 
			 Other criminal damage — 2 — 4 2 4 3 
		
	
	
		
			   Found guilty 
			   1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  Racially or religiously aggravated offences of:
			 Less serious wounding — — — — — — 1 
			 Harassment 10 10 12 11 20 16 28 
			 Common assault — — 1 5 7 4 8 
			 Criminal damage to a dwelling — — — — — — — 
			 Criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling — — — — — — — 
			 Criminal damage to a vehicle — — — — — — — 
			 Other criminal damage — 1 — 2 1 2 1 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

War Criminals

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2007,  Official Report, column 144W, on war criminals, 
	(1)  whether the police have contacted Vladimir Aleksandrovich Titov (State Counsel of Justice, 2nd Class, Chief of Administration of Surveillance for the Implementation of Laws concerning Federal Security) at the Office of the Procurator General of the Russian Federation, 2nd Tekhnicheskii Pereulok, Moscow, 103793, Russian Federation; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  on war criminals, why bilateral discussions have not taken place with Leitender Oberstaatsanwalt Kurt Schrimm (Director), Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen zur Aufklärung von NS-Verbrechen, Schorndorfer Str. 58, 71638 Ludwigsburg (Federal Republic of Germany).

Meg Hillier: I understand that the police are aware of these potential sources of information on Nazi war crimes but, in the absence of specific allegations against any named individual in the UK, the police do not have any immediate plans to contact them.

War Criminals

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2007,  Official Report, column 146W, on war criminals, whether progress has been made with the request for information about the withdrawal of German pensions from residents following the German War Victims Relief Act from Herrn Dr. Eckhard Assman, Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales.

Meg Hillier: I understand that the Metropolitan Police have still to receive any indication that the German authorities have withdrawn a pension from anyone resident in the UK because of involvement in war crimes during the Second World War.

Public Expenditure

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1263W, what the outcome was of his discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding programmes for Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has made available over £51 billion extra spending for Northern Ireland for the next four years to meet the economic and political priorities of an incoming Northern Ireland Executive.
	Full details of the financial package were announced by the Chancellor in his statement to Parliament on 8 May 2007, Official Report, column 2WS.

Asylum: Appeals

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for statutory review of a refusal to grant asylum were submitted in each year since 1997; how many such applications were granted; and how many substantive re-hearings of asylum applications were successful.

Bridget Prentice: Appeals against a decision to refuse asylum are heard by the and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) and prior to April 2005 its predecessor, the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA). Appeals are heard by an Immigration Judge (IJ) of the AIT. Volumes of asylum appeals since 1997 were:
	
		
			  Calendar year  Adjudicator/Immigration Judge receipts 
			 1997 22,387 
			 1998 15,442 
			 1999 7,775 
			 2000 28,565 
			 2001 47,906 
			 2002 64,127 
			 2003 70,577 
			 2004 47,002 
			 2005 24,891 
			 2006 14,863 
			 Total 343,535 
		
	
	Following a decision on appeal, the unsuccessful party can apply for it to be reviewed on the ground that the IJ made an error of law. The provisions on review were established under Section 101 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum (NIA) Act 2002 and amended by the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) (AITC) Act 2004.
	Prior to April 2005, in an appeal to the IAA, the losing party could apply to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal (IAT) for permission to appeal against the decision on a point of law. If refused permission to appeal, the party could apply to the High Court (or the Court of Session in Scotland) for statutory review of that decision, on the ground that the Tribunal had made an error of law. If the High Court granted the application, the case was remitted to the IAT.
	Since April 2005, losing parties in appeals to the AIT can apply for review of the decision via a transitional 'filter' provision. Applications are considered by Senior Immigration Judges (SIJs) of the AIT. If the application is granted, the SIJ will make an order requiring the AIT to reconsider its decision. If the application is refused, the party can 'opt in' to the High Court for statutory review, which is decided by a High Court Judge on consideration of the papers. If the High Court grants the application, an order requiring the AIT to reconsider its decision will be made.
	Information is provided for the Tribunal's permission/filter applications and for the High Court from 2003 when the statutory review provisions commenced:
	
		
			  Calendar year  IAT permissions applications/AIT filter application decisions (Asylum)  Granted  Asylum applications received at the High Court  Applications allowed 
			 1997 8,128 — — — 
			 1998 10,313 — — — 
			 1999 9,575 — — — 
			 2000 5,488 — — — 
			 2001 13,538 4,197 — — 
			 2002 22,823 6,847 — — 
			 2003 32,178 11,906 410 93 
			 2004 30,519 9,438 1,840 343 
			 2005 24,711 5,447 3,784 499 
			 2006 8,082 2,291 2,193 172 
			 Total 165,355 — 8,227 — 
		
	
	If an application is granted, either by the AIT or the High Court, the appeal falls to be considered afresh by the AIT. Appeals reconsidered and allowed by the AIT and the IAT, pre-April 2005, were:
	
		
			  Calendar year  IAT Appeals/AIT reconsiderations (Asylum)  Allowed 
			 1997 1,373 — 
			 1998 1,089 — 
			 1999 1,790 — 
			 2000 2,637 — 
			 2001 3,190 447 
			 2002 5,563 668 
			 2003 9,451 1,418 
			 2004 8,783 1,040 
			 2005 7,054 1,269 
			 2006 4,201 1,227 
			 Total 45,131 — 
		
	
	In appeals to the IAT (i.e. those prior to April 2005), the outcome (allowed or dismissed) relates to the party who lodged the appeal to the IAT, so may have been the respondent in the initial appeal to the IAA. Since April 2005, where an appeal is reconsidered by the AIT, the outcome relates to the appeal and not to the application for review. Thus, where an appeal is allowed on reconsideration, that represents a decision in the appellant's favour.

Electronic Tagging

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many persons currently ordered by the courts to be tagged  (a) as part of their bail conditions,  (b) as part of an early release scheme and  (c) as part of their sentence, have not yet had the tagging technology activated; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the longest period was between a court ordering a person in the community to be tagged and that tag not having been activated as at 21 June 2007;
	(3)  for what reasons some persons ordered to be tagged by the courts as part of  (a) their bail conditions,  (b) early release schemes and  (c) their sentence have not yet had the tagging technology activated; and if he make a statement.

David Hanson: Data relating to installation of electronic monitoring equipment is not routinely collected by the monitoring contractors in the format requested, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. From 1 January 2007 to 31 May 2007, the latest period for which figures are available, the contractors installed the monitoring equipment in 99.37 per cent. of audited cases within 24 hours of notification by a Court or Prison.
	It is the intention of the Department that all persons are tagged at the earliest opportunity. Installation of equipment may not happen for a number of different reasons. The subject may be delayed in travelling to the curfew address from court or custody, or be curfewed to an address with multiple accommodation such as flats or apartments where the contractor may have initial difficulty in accessing the building.
	Prompt follow-up action is required by the contractor under such circumstances. If the person is absent at the first attempt the contractor will report the failure to the relevant supervising agency or the Court if the person is not under supervision. One further attempt must be made to complete installation within 24 hours of the start of the first monitoring period. If the second installation attempt is unsuccessful the contractor must report the failure as a breach of the curfew.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimates he has made of the proportion of tax credit overpayments which are caused by official error; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member on 25 June 2007,  Official Report, column 4160W.

Departments: Public Transport

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the number of its staff using public transport to travel to commute.

Shahid Malik: DFID last carried out a survey of staff two years ago in order to produce Green Travel Plans for our two UK offices. Our London office has no car parking for staff, so with the exception of 13 per cent. staff who cycled all or part of the journey, or 3 per cent. who walked, the remainder all used public transport. Our smaller East Kilbride office is somewhat more difficult to reach via public transport but around 20 per cent. use either trains or buses. The majority of the remainder use cars, but at least a third of these use car sharing arrangements. Overall, around 60 per cent. of our staff use public transport.

Education: Expenditure

Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was allocated for capital expenditure on education in Stockton-on-Tees in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: Capital allocations for education in Stockton-on-Tees in each year since 1997 are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 1997-98 1.0 
			 1998-99 2.4 
			 1999-2000 7.1 
			 2000-01 8.2 
			 2001-02 14.6 
			 2002-03 8.7 
			 2003-04 11.9 
			 2004-05 11.8 
			 2005-06 7.7 
			 2006-07 10.9 
			 2007-08 7.7 
		
	
	The changes in capital funding from year to year, apart from a general rise across the period, result from periodic allocations of ring-fenced capital funding which are in additional to the annual formulaic funding. In the current spending review period, from 2005-06 to 2007-08, additional targeted capital funding (TCP) of £0.612 million was allocated in 2005-06, and £3.343 million TCP in 2006-07. The large allocation of £14.6 million in 2001-02 includes a PFI allocation of £6.4 million.

General Certificate of Secondary Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils in maintained mainstream schools who gained five good GCSEs in 2006 gained  (a) five,  (b) four and  (c) three C grades.

Jim Knight: The answer to this request is given in the table:
	
		
			  Number of pupils in maintained mainstream Schools who got the five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C and obtained five, four or three C grades at GCSE( 1) : 
			   5 or more GCSEs at grade C  4 or more GCSEs at grade C  3 or more GCSEs at grade C 
			  Number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 pupils with 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C  Number  As a percentage of those with 5 + A*-C  Number  As a percentage of those with 5 + A*-C  Number  As a percentage of those with 5 + A*-C 
			 263,812 75,920 28.8 109,995 41.7 142,226 53.9 
			 (1 )At full GCSE only, not including equivalents.  Source:  School Achievement and Attainment Tables

Intimidation: Statistics

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to encourage schools to  (a) record all incidents of bullying and  (b) report the statistics to their local authority;
	(2)  what progress is being made on the recommendation of Third Report of Session 2006-07 of the Education and Skills Committee, on Bullying, HC 85, on developing a system for collecting and recording incidents of bullying in schools;
	(3)  if his Department will commission a study of the long-term effects of bullying on those subject to it in schools;
	(4)  what indicators his Department plans to use to measure progress in tackling prejudice-driven bullying related to special educational needs and disabilities;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the non statutory requirement upon schools to report incidents of bullying on the quality of the collected results.

Jim Knight: As we make clear in the Government response to the Committee's Third Report of Session 2006-07, my Department recommends as best practice that schools record all incidents of bullying and report these statistics to their local authority (LA). We will be strengthening this message in our revised overarching anti-bullying guidance and will ensure it is clear in the more specialist guidance we are preparing on homophobic and other forms of prejudice-driven bullying.
	However, we do not believe that a statutory requirement on schools to record incidents of bullying would be effective. It would present significant logistical and bureaucratic difficulties for schools, and there would be substantial issues around consistency of definition, collection, and interpretation which would be expensive, cumbersome and time-consuming to overcome. We think it is better to leave this matter to the good judgment and common sense of teachers, who will have detailed guidance on how best to go about this.
	The forthcoming "Tellus 2" survey should give us more comprehensive data on young people's experiences of bullying in schools. It will be an annual survey, starting this year, covering all LAs. Data will be considered by Ofsted in their annual performance assessment of each LA's services, and could lead to Ofsted looking more closely at anti-bullying practices in a particular authority's joint area review (JAR). We are currently looking at how we might use data derived from the survey to inform future policy development.
	The Department's contract with the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) includes a specific research element, which is fulfilled by a senior researcher at Goldsmiths College and his team. In our response to the Education and Skills Select Committee's report on bullying, we made clear that the ABA was planning a substantial piece of research into reactive anti-bullying strategies, and we believed this was the best way forward. Any other research projects will be determined in light of our ongoing policy priorities.
	The Department does not monitor the progress of individual schools in addressing bullying at a local, regional or national level or, as my earlier answers make clear, collect statistics in this area. However our partners in the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) and National Strategies maintain close links with individual schools and authorities through their regional networks. We have flagged up that there is a need to tackle the bullying of children with SEN and disabilities in our guidance. The ANA and National Strategies work with schools to ensure effective measures are in place to prevent and tackle the bullying of these children. We have also asked the National Strategies to identify schools with weak and ineffective anti-bullying strategies and to provide challenge and support to these schools as appropriate.
	Following the Government's commitment to issue specific guidance on prejudice-driven bullying in the Schools White Paper 'Higher Standards, Better Schools for All', my Department produced well-received guidance in 2006 on tackling racist bullying, "Bullying around racism, religion and culture". We will also be launching more specific guidance on how to prevent and tackle homophobic bullying later this year. We recognise there is a need for more specialist guidance to tackle the bullying of pupils with SEN and disabilities Once this is issued we will work with practitioners and with our partners in the field on a programme of dissemination to ensure schools across the country implement the guidance.
	Our guidance to schools on tackling bullying has always been intentionally non-statutory. Schools need to determine an approach which best suits their local needs and circumstances, taking into account their pupil population and identified priorities. Schools are autonomous institutions, and we want them to retain the flexibility to establish a system of managing behaviour which best suits the needs of the local community they serve.

Primary Education: Teaching Methods

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1158W, on primary education: teaching methods, what the cost per pupil is of  (a) the Every Child a Reader and  (b) the Every Child Counts programme;
	(2)  if he will break down the average per capita cost of the Every Child a Reader programme in to  (a) pay for specialist trained teachers,  (b) materials for pupils,  (c) central administration costs for the scheme,  (d) marketing and  (e) other costs;
	(3)  how many special teachers have been trained for the  (a) Every Child a Reader and  (b) Every Child Counts programme.

Jim Knight: The Every Child A Reader (ECAR) programme costs on average £2,300 per pupil. This unit cost breaks down as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Costs at school level over four years 
			  Start up costs
			  Essential:
			 Training Course 2,500 — — 
			 Core texts 30 — — 
			  May be needed:
			 Children's books 200 — — 
			 Magnetic whiteboard and letters 100   
			 Maximum start up costs — 2,830  
			 Running costs — variable — 
			 0.5 teacher time for teaching = £20,000 per year over four years 80,000 80,000  
			 Total cost to the school over 4 years — — 82,830 
			 8-10 children served per 0.5 teacher time per year, average 9 children per year x 4 yrs = 36 children — — Divided by 36 
			 Cost to the school per child — — 2,300 
			  Source:  The long term costs of literacy difficulties, KPMG Foundation December 2006 
		
	
	61 already trained specialist teachers have been re-activated and an additional 215 specialist teachers have been trained to work with children as part of the ECAR programme. ECAR is largely delivered in maintained mainstream schools although a small number of specialist teachers are delivering ECAR in special schools.
	Funding of £20 million for implementing the Making Good Progress pilot in the first academic year, 2007-08, was announced on June 6 along with the details of participating pilot schools. There will be further funding for implementation in the second academic year which will be settled through the comprehensive spending review. The cost per pupil on 2007-08 will be approximately 300 and we anticipate that it will be similar in 2008-09. There will be no specific training programme for teachers in relation to the Making Good Progress pilot.
	We will announce detailed allocations for Every Child Counts in due course. At this stage we do not know what the cost per pupil will be. It is likely that there will be specific training for teachers in the numeracy equivalent to Every Child A Reader when it is rolled out, the details of which (including the number of teachers to be trained) are yet to be decided.

Schools: Religion

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what religious groups his Department has corresponded with in the past 12 months over possible sponsorship of  (a) an academy and  (b) a trust school.

Jim Knight: Officials are in regular contact with the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church who are actively involved in the Academies programme. Discussions have also taken place about potential Academy and/or Trust School projects with the Eastern Orthodox Church and a number of organisations who have a religious ethos, including Oasis, the United Learning Trust and the Multi Faith Secondary School Trust and the Salvation Army.
	The Focus Learning Trust has made a number of representations to Government concerning the establishment of an Academy or a Trust school in which the FIT would have a role. There are no current proposals to establish any such Academy or Trust school.

Teachers: Science

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) physics,  (b) chemistry,  (c) biology and  (d) biochemistry graduates began teacher training in each of the last 10 years, broken down by class of degree.

Jim Knight: holding answer 28 June 2007
	The breakdown of Science courses into the individual specialisms is not available. The following table shows the number of entrants to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) mainstream Post Graduate (PG) science courses with a first UK degree in science or in a science-related subject by the classification of their first degree between 1998/99 and 2004/05.
	
		
			Degree classification 
			   Total  1st  2:1  2:2  3  Pass  Class not known or undefined 
			 1998/99 1,620 120 630 600 150 90 30 
			 1999/2000 1,680 140 660 630 150 70 40 
			 2000/01 1,790 150 710 650 160 90 30 
			 2001/02 1,880 150 780 670 160 90 40 
			 2002/03 1,940 180 760 730 160 100 20 
			 2003/04 2,220 220 930 780 170 80 30 
			 2004/05 2,100 220 900 720 180 70 10 
			  Notes: 1. Includes trainees from Universities and other Higher Education (HE) institutions, School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) and Open Universities (OU), but exclude Employment Based Routes (EBR). 2. Numbers are individually rounded to the nearest 10, therefore may not sum. 3. Figures include those entering ITT courses for secondary science and key stage 2/3 science. 4. UK first degree of science includes trainees with degrees in biology, chemistry and physics. 5. UK first degree of science related subject includes trainees with a degree which has an element of science, for example engineering. 6. Prior to 1998/99 data is not in a consistent format.  Source:  TDA performance profiles

Teachers: Working hours

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate his Department has made of the hours an average  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school teacher spends on planning, preparation, assessment and other administration in each seven day period; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Information on the hours and working patterns of teachers is collected via the Teachers' Workloads Diary Survey' that is published by the Office of Manpower Economics. The most recent results relate to a single week in March 2006. The survey showed that on average full-time classroom teachers in primary schools spent 14.2 hours on 'Lesson planning/Marking'(1) and 5.0 hours on 'General Admin'(2). Full-time classroom teachers in secondary schools spent 14.8 hours on 'Lesson planning /Marking'(1) and 3.0 hours on 'General Admin'(2).
	We expect that the results of the 2007 survey will be published in the next couple of months.
	(1) Lesson planning / Marking includes: planning/preparing lesson, practical test or assessment (including gathering materials); assessing/marking pupil work (including exam/test); writing reports on pupil progress (e.g. end of term report); other non-contact activities relating to a class or lesson.
	(2) General admin includes: keeping records on pupil performance (e.g. for National Curriculum, school records, examination boards etc.); keeping records or department records (excluding those on pupil performance); organising resources and premises (e.g. building, equipment, books, computers); displaying / mounting pupils' work or information for pupils; setting up / tidying classroom, lab or other teaching area; simple clerical activity (e.g. photocopying, filing, routine form filling/database entry); other kinds of administrative activities.

Dental Services: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what spare capacity expressed in patient numbers is available for  (a) under 18,  (b) over 18 fee paying and  (c) over 18 charge exempt people who want to register with an NHS dentist in Milton Keynes, broken down by dental practice.

Ann Keen: holding answer 29 June 2007
	 Information is not available in the format requested. Since April 2006 patients have no longer been required to register with a particular dentist.
	Information is held centrally on the number of patients broken down by adults and children who received care or treatment from an national health service dentist in the most recent 14 months. As at 31 March 2007 53.8 per cent. of patients in Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust had seen an NHS dentist at least once in the previous 24 months, for adults this was 47.0 per cent. and for children this was 74.6 per cent.

Health Services: Finance

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department expects to allocate to  (a) the Healthcare Commission,  (b) the National Patient Safety Agency,  (c) the General Social Care Council and  (d) the Commission for Social Care Inspection (i) to promote public engagement in their activities and (ii) for communication purposes in (A) 2007-08, (B) 2008-09 and (C) 2009-10.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has allocated a budget to its arm's length bodies for 2007-08 and the detailed elements of each are set out as follows.
	However, for 2008-09 and 2009-10, while overall indicative budgets have been allocated, the Department and the arm's length bodies have not yet agreed the detailed elements of their expenditure.
	 Healthcare Commission
	The budget for the patient and public engagement team for 2007-08 is £0.775 million. Public engagement is also supported by other departments, as patients and the public are the primary focus of the Healthcare Commission's work.
	The rest of the communications budget for 2007-08 is £3.117 million. This also includes public engagement in the form of running consultation events and communicating through written reports and the internet.
	 National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA)
	The NPSA Business Plan for 2007-08 states that the Agency will ensure that patients and the public are involved in its work by developing and implementing an involvement strategy in 2007 that takes account of changes resulting from the review of the organisational arrangements to support patient safety, "Safety First" (December 2006). The sum of budget lines that relate specifically to patient and public involvement is £347,288.
	Communications supports the Agency's activity and engagement with the national health service in England and Wales, including feedback reports to each NHS organisation, the work of the National Clinical Assessment Service, the work of the National Research Ethics Service, published guidance on improving medication safety and a high profile patient safety campaign to frontline workers, as well as patients and the public. The total budget for this is approximately £1.7 million.
	 The General Social Care Council (GSCC)
	The GSCC has allocated a budget to its Corporate Communications Directorate in 2007-08 of £1.001 million (as shown in the GSCC Business Plan for 2007-08). However, the GSCC has not allocated this budget between the two criteria that are stated in the question.
	The GSCC also has funding within the education support grant that is paid (by the GSCC) to higher education institutes for the involvement of service users and carers in the design and delivery of the social work degree courses. For 2007-08 the earmarked funding is £0.628 million. This finding for this activity is also quoted in the GSCCs Business Plan for 2007-08.
	 The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI)
	Communications and public involvement are a core function of CSCI's role. As a service regulator it is important that every aspect of CSCI's work involves communication with the public in general and, more specifically, with service users, their carers and families and with providers, commissioners and policy makers. By doing this, our work can encourage greater involvement in services, increase awareness of developments and issues in social care and raise the standard of service provision.
	Therefore it is not feasible to completely separate the aspects of CSCI's work, and the budgets, which are specifically about public involvement and communication from those which are not.
	However, there is a central function from which the core public and user involvement activities of CSCI are co-ordinated with a budget of £1.039 million for the current year. This budget does not cover all relevant expenditure on communications and public involvement, but it does cover the cost of user involvement activities such as experts by experience involvement in inspections, user participation in improvement boards, conferences, methodology development etc. and accessible communications.
	As well as the public and user involvement function, CSCI has a specific communications function which co-ordinates publications, events, marketing and web development. All of these activities are central to informing the public about and involving the public in CSCI's work.

Hearing Impaired: Health Services

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of progress on the Government's target to reduce waiting times for audiology assessments to six weeks by March 2008.

Ivan Lewis: Data published on 13 June 2007 shows that, at the end of April, 101,260 people were waiting longer than six weeks for an audiology assessment. This is a reduction of 37,409 since October and represents good progress towards the milestone.

Females: Small Businesses

Nick Brown: To ask the Minister for Women what work is undertaken by the taskforce on women's enterprise; and what progress has been made towards the recruitment of a national network of 1,000 female entrepreneur ambassadors.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	If we matched US levels of entrepreneurship there would be 700,000 more businesses run by women in the UK. To help accelerate the UK towards the US levels of entrepreneurship, the Government established the taskforce on Women's Enterprise to advise it on specific steps to increase levels of women's business ownership in the UK. Under the co-chairmanship of Pam Alexander (CEO, SEED A) and Glenda Stone (CEO, Aurora), the taskforce is providing leadership on women's enterprise across Government and the regions, by recommending specific steps to increase women's business ownership. It is working with the Regional Development Agencies to ensure that women have access to the high-quality support and advice they require to start and grow their businesses.
	Working alongside the taskforce is the Women's Enterprise Ambassadors' Network (WEAN). This network comprises inspirational women entrepreneurs, who are using their knowledge and experience to inspire more women to consider the option of starting a business. To celebrate the recruitment of the 1000th ambassador the first WEAN National conference, hosted by the right hon. Margaret Hodge MP (former Minister for Industry and the Regions), took place at Lancaster House on Monday 25 June 2007. The conference was attended by 200 ambassadors from around the country.

Departments: Energy

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many energy saving lightbulbs were purchased by his Department for use on the departmental estate in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Gareth Thomas: In the financial year 2006-07 the Department procured and installed 2,770 energy saving light bulbs and holds an approximate stock of 320 , the latter will vary dependant on replacement requirements.
	During the previous year 2004-05 the Department purchased approximately 4700 energy saving light bulbs.
	The Department installs energy efficient lighting throughout its estate as a part of its strategy to achieve the energy targets set out in the framework for sustainable development in Government.

Energy: Black Sea

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what support his Department has given to UK energy companies developing new energy resources in the Black Sea.

Gareth Thomas: While UK energy companies have been active for some time in the Black Sea states, UK Trade and Investment is not aware of any UK company involvement in the offshore development of new energy resources in the Black Sea itself. UK companies considering investment in that activity may wish to consider contacting UK Trade and Investment to discuss available assistance.
	Information on the types of assistance available from UK Trade and Investment are available via the organisation's website.

Manufacturing Industries: Exports

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what new market opportunities for manufacturing exports were offered by Brazil and India at discussions with the United States and the European Union in Potsdam.

Gareth Thomas: The negotiations in Potsdam between the EU, US, Brazil and India have not lead yet to agreement on the tariff reduction formulae for either trade in agriculture or trade in manufactured goods. Consequently, discussions about market access for manufactured goods did not lead to new market opportunities being offered.

Post Offices: WH Smith

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies the Post Office has undertaken into the impact on surrounding sub-post offices of establishing post offices in WH Smith branches.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook the managing director has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.